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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Sporobolus asper | Rough Dropseed
ABBREVIATION :
SPOASP
SYNONYMS :
Sporobolus asper var. drummondii (Trin.) Vasey
Sporobolus canovirens Nash
Sporobolus clandestinus (Biehler) Hitchc.
Sporobolus drummondii (Trin.) Vasey
Sporobolus pilosus Vasey
SCS PLANT CODE :
SPAS
COMMON NAMES :
rough dropseed
meadow dropseed
tall droopseed
TAXONOMY :
The accepted scientific name for rough dropseed is Sporobolus asper
(Michx.) Kunth [6,8,14]. There are four commonly recognized varieties:
Sporobolus asper var. asper
Sporobolus asper var. clandestinus (Biehler) Shinners
Sporobolus asper var. hookeri (Trin.) Vasey
Sporobolus asper var. pilosus (Vasey) Hitchc.
LIFE FORM :
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
Kathy Ahlenslager, May 1988
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Ahlenslager, Kathleen E. 1988. Sporobolus asper. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Sporobolus asper | Rough Dropseed
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Rough dropseed is distributed from eastern Washington and Oregon across
the United States to Vermont, and south to Arizona, New Mexico, and
Texas [6,8].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
STATES :
AZ AR CO CT DE IL IN IA KS KY
LA MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NJ
NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SD
TN TX UT VT VA WA WI WY AB MB
SK
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
AMIS BADL BITH CUVA GWCA NERI
PIPE
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
14 Great Plains
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K069 Bluestem - grama prairie
K076 Blackland prairie
K084 Cross Timbers
SAF COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Rough dropseed is a component of sagebrush and tallgrass prairie
communities [4].
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Sporobolus asper | Rough Dropseed
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Rough dropseed makes up a minor part of the vegetation in most areas
where it grows and is not a particularly valuable forage species [13].
It increases in response to grazing [7].
PALATABILITY :
Rough dropseed is most palatable when young and green. Its palatability
at maturity is low [13].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Compared to other grasses, rough dropseed is fair in forage value for
livestock annd poor for wildlife [12,13].
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
In Nebraska, rough dropseed is not recommended for use in seedings [13].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Sporobolus asper | Rough Dropseed
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Rough dropseed is a solitary or tufted, rhizomatous, perennial,
warm-season grass up to 4 feet (13 dm) in height [6,8]. It is more
drought tolerant than many grasses of the bluestem prairie but is not
nearly as drought hardy as sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus) [14].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Hemicryptophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Rough dropseed reproduces by seeds, tillers, and rhizomes [13].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Rough dropseed occurs throughout the United States on clayey to silty
soils of prairies and sandy meadows. In the Great Basin, it grows on
dry, often sandy sites in juniper communities and in fallow fields below
2,100 feet (1,530 m) [13].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Growth begins in late spring; flowering occurs from August to October
[6,8,12,14].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Sporobolus asper | Rough Dropseed
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Fires usually consume dry vegetation to ground level. Burning of rough
dropseed usually results in rapid combustion and little downward
transfer of heat into belowground plant parts.
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Sporobolus asper | Rough Dropseed
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Rough dropseed is characterized by loosely clustered, coarse culms
(stems). During a fire these culms usually burn rapidly with little
heat transfered downward into meristematic tissue. Plants spread via
seeds, tillers, and occasionally by short rhizomes.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Early spring burning favors warm-season rough dropseed, whereas late
spring burning favors cool-season species [1]. Yields of rough dropseed
increased after spring burns during both wet and dry years in an ashe
juniper (Juniperus ashei) community in southeastern Texas [15]. Fall
burns also favor the growth of rough dropseed, as shown by a study on
the influence of fire on southern Texas chaparral communities [3].
In an Oklahoma tallgrass prairie with rough dropseed, big bluestem
(Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii), and little bluestem (Schizachyrium
scoparium), the interaction between disturbances, such as grazing and
fire, on plant community structure was studied. It was found that
species richness increased with increasing disturbance intensity. In
addition, species diversity decreased after burning on the ungrazed
treatments, but increased in response to grazing on the burned
treatments [4].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Sporobolus asper | Rough Dropseed
REFERENCES :
1. Anderson, Kling L.; Smith, Ed F.; Owensby, Clenton E. 1970. Burning
bluestem range. Journal of Range Management. 23: 81-92. [323]
2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
3. Box, Thadis W.; Powell, Jeff; Drawe, D. Lynn. 1967. Influence of fire on
south Texas chaparral communities. Ecology. 48(6): 955-961. [499]
4. Collins, Scott L. 1987. Interaction of disturbances in tallgrass
prairie: a field experiment. Ecology. 68(5): 1243-1250. [2708]
5. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
6. Great Plains Flora Association. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. 1392 p. [1603]
7. Herbel, Carlton H.; Anderson, Kling L. 1959. Response of true prairie
vegetation on major Flint Hills range sites to grazing treatment.
Ecological Monographs. 29(2): 171-186. [19]
8. Hitchcock, A. S. 1951. Manual of the grasses of the United States. Misc.
Publ. No. 200. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Agricultural Research Administration. 1051 p. [2nd edition revised by
Agnes Chase in two volumes. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.]. [1165]
9. Johnston, Barry C. 1987. Plant associations of Region Two: Potential
plant communities of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and
Kansas. 4th ed. R2-ECOL-87-2. Lakewood, CO: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. 429 p. [3519]
10. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
11. Lyon, L. Jack; Stickney, Peter F. 1976. Early vegetal succession
following large northern Rocky Mountain wildfires. In: Proceedings, Tall
Timbers fire ecology conference and Intermountain Fire Research Council
fire and land management symposium; 1974 October 8-10; Missoula, MT. No.
14. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 355-373. [1496]
12. Stubbendieck, J.; Hatch, Stephan L.; Hirsch, Kathie J. 1986. North
American range plants. 3rd ed. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska
Press. 465 p. [2270]
13. Stubbendieck, J.; Nichols, James T.; Roberts, Kelly K. 1985. Nebraska
range and pasture grasses (including grass-like plants). E.C. 85-170.
Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, Department of Agriculture,
Cooperative Extension Service. 75 p. [2269]
14. Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry
C., eds. 1987. A Utah flora. Great Basin Naturalist Memoir No. 9. Provo,
UT: Brigham Young University. 894 p. [2944]
15. Wink, Robert L.; Wright, Henry A. 1973. Effects of fire on an ashe
juniper community. Journal of Range Management. 26(5): 326-329. [2582]
Index
Related categories for Species: Sporobolus asper
| Rough Dropseed
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